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"We’ve got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now, and we don’t need ACORN’s help," Obama told reporters
AP Photo

OREGON, Ohio — Barack Obama for the first time on Tuesday addressed the ACORN controversy that Republicans are seeking to attach to his campaign, minimizing the impact of alleged voter registration fraud linked to the activist group and stressing ACORN is not advising his campaign.

“We’ve got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now, and we don’t need ACORN’s help,” he told reporters at the secluded leafy resort outside Toledo where he is preparing for Wednesday’s debate.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, which registers low-income and minority voters who tend to favor Democrats, is under siege for allegedly falsifying voter registrations, and Republicans have sought to taint Obama with the allegations.

Obama in the 1990s represented the group in a lawsuit, and on Tuesday, he said that “as an elected official, I’ve had interactions with” the Chicago branch of the group, which he said has “been active,” according to a pool report.

“But they are not advising our campaign,” stressed Obama, who himself worked as a community organizer in Chicago before attending law school.

Nevada authorities last week raided ACORN’s state headquarters after the branch submitted voter registrations with the names of celebrities including Dallas Cowboy stars Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, and other voters came forward alleging they were asked by ACORN employees to submit multiple registration forms.

Obama’s Republican rival John McCain pounced on the controversy, releasing a statement last week asserting that given “ACORN’s recent efforts to engage in voter fraud and to disrupt our political system, Obama’s affiliation with this group raises serious questions about his judgment and ability to lead this nation.”

McCain’s campaign has also called for an investigation of Obama’s ties to ACORN.

ACORN’s political action committee endorsed Obama’s campaign, which paid $832,598 to a consulting firm affiliated with ACORN for get-out-the-vote efforts, though it initially miscategorized the purpose of the payment.

“Obama has a responsibility to rein in ACORN,” said McCain running mate Sarah Palin, during an interview Tuesday with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Obama posited Tuesday that the alleged fraud likely was the result of a few bad actors, wouldn’t impact the election and shouldn’t be used by the GOP to try to bar voters from casting ballots on Election Day.

“My understanding in terms of the voter fraud — because having run a voter registration drive, I know how problems arise — this is typically a situation where ACORN probably paid people to get registrations, and these folks, not wanting to actually register people because that’s actually hard work, just went into a phone book or made up names and submitted false registrations to get paid,” he said.

“So there’s been fraud perpetrated probably on ACORN, if they paid these individuals and they actually didn’t do registrations, but this isn’t a situation where there’s actually people who are going to try to vote, ‘cause these are phony names, and it’s doubtful Tony Romo is gonna show up in Ohio to vote, so this is another one of these distractions that gets stirred up in the course of a campaign."

“But, what I want to make sure of is that this is not used as an excuse for the kind of voter suppression strategies and tactics that we’ve seen in the past. Let’s just make sure everybody is voting, everybody’s registered. Let’s make sure that everybody’s doing it in a lawful way,” he concluded.

THIS IS CLEARLY PART OF OBAMA'S MASTER PLAN. OBVIOUSLY HE STILL HEADS ACORN. OBVIOUSLY THEY PLAN TO TAKE OVER AMERICA THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF REGISTERING PEOPLE TO VOTE. ACORN WILL NOT BE PUT DOWN THIS EASILY!

WASHINGTON — As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail.

Commentators say that's what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They've specifically targeted the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie's and Freddie's financial problems.

Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren't true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.

McCain is just pitiful. We are in the midst of a recession and he's using his pit bull surrogate to talk about ACORN, a ground he praised up until it was time to run for election. Barack Obama is right. He has the best get out to vote operation in recent memory. The Republicans WISH they had something like it. Barack's people are still working like they are 20 points down in the polls. McCain's people are too busy filling Palin's head with talking points and zingers. It looks like McCain's get out the vote strategy is to try to stop everyone from voting. He's making me think this is 1968 and not 2008. If John McCain had a campaign that was based on issues, he would be talking about them right now, not having Sarah Pain dial into Rush Limbaugh to fawn all over her. Now McCain says he's going to whip Obama. With what? His limp wrist?

They stole the election in 2000, and 2004 and they're acting like Barrack Obama's stuffing ballot boxes himself this time around.

Do they not realize that ACORN'S a non profit organization that pays the poor to register more individuals in their neighborhoods to vote ? "non-profit voter registration drive"

It is true that some individuals will make up names and addresses to get more money since they are paid per applicant turned in. ACORN knows this and goes through the registrations, filtering the possible bad ones. ACORN then has "two piles" of registration paperwork, one flagged for questioning and one that looks legit.

Acorn is REQUIRED BY LAW TO TURN IN ALL REGISTRATIONS REGARDLESS OF LEGITIMACY, YOU DUMBARSES.

Acorn BOTHERS and TRIES to make it easier for the registrar to separate the two.

Looking at the polls is see no need for the Democrats to cheat like the republicans did in 2000, and 2004. Well, that is unless the race winds up being close, then the republicans can work their "magic" like they did last time around.

Hail mary passes by the GOP while Obama surges in the polls. Since McCain decided to go negative with his campaign, his unfavorable numbers are climbing and Obama's favorable numbers are climbing. See realclearpolitics.com

IF the GOP wants to play the guilt by association game, McCain has surrounded himself with some very shady characters to say the least.

Barack..you did nothing wrong..Dont even worry about it. Shake those jealous HATERS off...You will win this thing ...They are angry that McErratic is not closer in the polls..Everyone is jumping the McCain ship..LOLOL.... We got your back...

A new web video detailing the ties between Senator Barack Obama and ACORN, the organization currently under investigation for massive voter fraud in a number of battleground states. As a result of Senator Obama's blind ambition, he has a long history with the group. Barack Obama trained members of the Chicago ACORN staff, and his campaign has paid more than $800,000 for "voter registration" to an ACORN front group. It's up to us to hold Senator Obama accountable for his questionable judgment and blind --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS IS CLEARLY PART OF OBAMA'S MASTER PLAN. OBVIOUSLY HE STILL HEADS ACORN. OBVIOUSLY THEY PLAN TO TAKE OVER AMERICA THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF REGISTERING PEOPLE TO VOTE. ACORN WILL NOT BE PUT DOWN THIS EASILY!

you are such a ding-dong. Do you read anything, ever? Or do you just post in capital letters like a true ding-dong? I have been a volunteer for Obama's campaign since the beginning, and we didn't need ACORN or any other organization. We are a large, very large group of progressive people with one goal.....President Barack Hussein Obama. History will be made.

The WSJ: Which brings us to Mr. Obama, who got his start as a Chicago "community organizer" at Acorn's side. In 1992 he led voter registration efforts as the director of Project Vote, which included Acorn. This past November, he lauded Acorn's leaders for being "smack dab in the middle" of that effort. Mr. Obama also served as a lawyer for Acorn in 1995, in a case against Illinois to increase access to the polls. During his tenure on the board of Chicago's Woods Fund, that body funneled more than $200,000 to Acorn. More recently, the Obama campaign paid $832,000 to an Acorn affiliate. The campaign initially told the Federal Election Commission this money was for "staging, sound, lighting." It later admitted the cash was to get out the vote. The Obama campaign is now distancing itself from Acorn, claiming Mr. Obama never organized with it and has nothing to do with illegal voter registration. Yet it's disingenuous to channel cash into an operation with a history of fraud and then claim you're shocked to discover reports of fraud. As with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers, Mr. Obama was happy to associate with Acorn when it suited his purposes. But now that he's on the brink of the Presidency, he wants to disavow his ties.

Paid them $832,000...but now...They are not the ACORN he knew... Responsible for the Fanny/Freddie mess that is costing taxpayers...$820 billion ($700 for the bailout and $120 for democratic goodies...but now...They are not the ACORN he knew... Told ACORN that they could help shape his administration....but now...They are not the ACORN he knew Obama shoves ACORN under the bus with Wright, Phleggler, his grandmother, Rezko and Ayers. The Obama media will back him up....but unlike some of the other issues...there are FEC reports and a tape of him in his own words to support the McCain allegations.

THIS IS CLEARLY PART OF OBAMA'S MASTER PLAN. OBVIOUSLY HE STILL HEADS ACORN. OBVIOUSLY THEY PLAN TO TAKE OVER AMERICA THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF REGISTERING PEOPLE TO VOTE. ACORN WILL NOT BE PUT DOWN THIS EASILY!

you are such a ding-dong. Do you read anything, ever? Or do you just post in capital letters like a true ding-dong?

YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO DEFLECT THE ATTENTION FROM ACORN. ACORN ACORN ACORN OBAMA ACORN.

A new web video detailing the ties between Senator Barack Obama and ACORN, the organization currently under investigation for massive voter fraud in a number of battleground states. As a result of Senator Obama's blind ambition, he has a long history with the group. Barack Obama trained members of the Chicago ACORN staff, and his campaign has paid more than $800,000 for "voter registration" to an ACORN front group. It's up to us to hold Senator Obama accountable for his questionable judgment and blind --------------------------------------------------------------------------------